


I'm getting tired of people making up my mind for me

by melodiousb



Category: The Talk of the Town (1942)
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-20
Updated: 2015-12-20
Packaged: 2018-05-08 00:17:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5475905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melodiousb/pseuds/melodiousb
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I've been thinking, Nora, that if someone were to take his hand and say, "Leopold, my reckless friend, here's love and companionship forever..."</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'm getting tired of people making up my mind for me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Fabrisse](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fabrisse/gifts).



> Happy Yuletide! I'm not very good at jumping into the middle of things, so think of this as the prologue to the established relationship you asked for.

Standing at the window with Professor Lightcap--Justice Lightcap, she reminds herself--Nora had thought of something. It had startled her at first, but the more she thinks about it, the less startling it seems. She knows it’s not exactly normal, but she doesn’t see why that’s a problem.

*

Nora and Leopold wander around Washington for a couple of hours, soaking up the late summer sun. Then they stop at a soda fountain. She pays. Leopold, as he reminds her cheerfully, doesn’t have a new job yet. Then they wander some more, straying away from the pale classicism of the official buildings into areas with houses, neighborhoods that look lived in. When Nora thinks of Washington, she thinks of history and legislation. Somehow it never occurred to her to think about people living here. She's thinking about it now. 

“It’s time to go back,” she says, finally, after glancing at her watch. “The court should be done for the day.”

“I thought you were coming back to Lochester with me,” says Leopold.

“I am,” says Nora. “But you don't need to go back yet.”

“There’s a six o’ clock train.”

"No one will notice if you're not on it, will they?"

He looks at her, a twinkle in his narrowed eyes. "What are you planning?"

"Nothing," she says, a little affronted. She's not used to people being able to read her. She spends most of her time with either her mother or schoolchildren. "Something nice," she says. She's been thinking about what she can do for him--for both of them--but maybe they can do things for her, too. It might be nice to be understood.

*

Nora leads Leopold through the Supreme Court building. The halls are emptier now than they were this morning, and she has to close her eyes and think hard for a moment before she remembers how to find her way back to the judges’ chambers. Before she knocks on the door of Professor—Justice Lightcap’s chambers, she takes Leopold’s hand. 

Tilney opens the door halfway, then all the way when he sees who it is.

"Is court still in session?" she asks.

"Yes, miss," says Tilney.

"May we wait with you?" 

Tilney smiles, and his second "yes, miss" comes in an entirely different tone of voice. 

Nora is vibrating with impatience--Leopold, next to her, must feel how tense she is, and he keeps looking at her nervously--but she needs Tilney on her side, so this is good, this unanticipated wait. She tries to draw him out, but this isn't something she's good at.

Leopold is better. He's at home with everyone he's ever met, as far as she can tell, and his unstudied interest goes over better with Tilney than her awkwardly polite inquiries. Nora has never been very good at politeness for politeness' sake. She would never have thought of asking Tilney if life is harder for him here in the South, with his darker skin. Tilney obviously never thought to be asked, either, and he's surprised into an honest reply. 

"Folks are more honest here," he says, slowly. "Up North, people look at me...they see the color of my skin first, too, but they pretend they don't. There I'm Mr. Lightcap's...eccentricity." He meets Nora's eyes. "They like eccentrics, up North."

She blushes and looks down, and when she raises her eyes again, Professor Lightcap--Michael, she thinks, experimentally--is standing in the doorway, looking over Tilney's shoulder as Tilney adds that it's nice to be so much closer to his mother.

Leopold sees Professor Lightcap, then, and suddenly the three of them are looking back and forth between each other, like they did in court earlier, and Nora can feel herself smiling.

Tilney stands up. "I'll make tea, Mr. Justice," he says, and Professor Lightcap nods vaguely and smiles, now at Leopold, now at Nora. Tilney leaves the room.

"I thought you would be on your way home by now," says Professor Lightcap, sitting down across from them. He's still smiling.

"How was court?" Nora asks.

His smile deepens. "It was..." he shakes his head. "I don't have words to describe it." 

He looks happy, satisfied. He thinks he doesn't need them, and maybe he's right. Maybe this is enough for him. That doesn't mean Nora doesn't want to give him more. She glances over at Leopold, and he looks happy, too. He and Professor Lightcap are just looking at each other now. They've forgotten that they're supposed to be carrying on a conversation. Nora is sure this is going to work.

Professor Lightcap looks back at Nora. "May I give you two my congratulations?" he asks. "When are you going back to Lochester?"

"Not yet," says Nora, which answers both questions, as far as she's concerned.

"To what do I owe this visit, then?"

Leopold, turns to her, then. "Yes, to what?"

"Two things," says Nora. She suddenly feels nervous. She always jumps into things headlong, and usually it works out, but usually the outcome isn't this important.

"First," she says, sitting up a little straighter in her chair, "Is the job still on offer?"

"The job?" Professor Lightcap asks.

"As your secretary," she reminds him. "The permanent position." She doesn't mean to emphasize "permanent." It emphasizes itself.

He glances at Leopold. "Yes, if you want it."

"I want it," she says.

Leopold and Professor Lightcap look at each other again, and then Leopold turns to her and says, "And the second thing?"

"Oh," says Nora, trying to keep her voice light and mostly succeeding. "Professor Lightcap had something he wanted to say to you."

Leopold looks at Professor Lightcap.

"I did?" Professor Lightcap is still smiling, waiting to understand the joke.

"There was something you wanted somebody to tell him," says Nora, glancing at the window and then looking back at him, willing him to understand. He looks down. "It didn't sound like something I would say."

"Oh," says the Professor.

Leopold is waiting patiently. Nora suddenly realizes that Tilney has been gone for a while--longer than it would take to bring tea. But she'd already known, when he left, that he understood.

"It began, 'Leopold, my reckless friend,'" she prompts.

Professor Lightcap looks at her for a long moment, then walks over to Leopold. "No," he says. He takes Leopold's hand. "It began like this."


End file.
